Comments on: Just when you thought it was safe to stick your toe in the water http://singlebarbed.com/2008/02/21/just-when-you-thought-it-was-safe-to-stick-your-toe-in-the-water/ Fly fishing and fly tying for anything that bites Tue, 22 May 2012 15:09:21 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: flyfreak http://singlebarbed.com/2008/02/21/just-when-you-thought-it-was-safe-to-stick-your-toe-in-the-water/comment-page-1/#comment-2794 flyfreak Tue, 30 Dec 2008 02:49:07 +0000 http://singlebarbed.com/2008/02/21/just-when-you-thought-it-was-safe-to-stick-your-toe-in-the-water/#comment-2794 Hi, I came from the part of the world (Indonesia) where the giant snakehead originates. It definitely have sharp teeth and has big appetite but I do not see them as aggressive (like chiclids). I pet some of them in my tank along with other predatory fish from around the world. They will become very aggressive when spawning but its natural as most animals do. There are stories of attacks to human getting near their nest but so far no fatalities. They do not consume human flesh and they do not take children as part of their diet. There is; however, another species which does: the Wallago Leerie or local name Tapah. This species can grow gigantic to 3 meter long. I agree with what Pete said about introduced species, as long as in the introduced area there exist a matching predator nature will find its way to balance things. It is only if there is no co-predator around (that can prey on the introduced species) and human intervention (this is the worst factor), balance in nature will be destroyed. Just my opinion .... Btw, great site you have and contains many useful information. Hi, I came from the part of the world (Indonesia) where the giant snakehead originates. It definitely have sharp teeth and has big appetite but I do not see them as aggressive (like chiclids). I pet some of them in my tank along with other predatory fish from around the world. They will become very aggressive when spawning but its natural as most animals do. There are stories of attacks to human getting near their nest but so far no fatalities. They do not consume human flesh and they do not take children as part of their diet. There is; however, another species which does: the Wallago Leerie or local name Tapah. This species can grow gigantic to 3 meter long.

I agree with what Pete said about introduced species, as long as in the introduced area there exist a matching predator nature will find its way to balance things. It is only if there is no co-predator around (that can prey on the introduced species) and human intervention (this is the worst factor), balance in nature will be destroyed.

Just my opinion ….

Btw, great site you have and contains many useful information.

]]> By: INVASIVE SPECIES: What of the Snakehead? « Fishing Jones http://singlebarbed.com/2008/02/21/just-when-you-thought-it-was-safe-to-stick-your-toe-in-the-water/comment-page-1/#comment-973 INVASIVE SPECIES: What of the Snakehead? « Fishing Jones Fri, 29 Feb 2008 22:05:15 +0000 http://singlebarbed.com/2008/02/21/just-when-you-thought-it-was-safe-to-stick-your-toe-in-the-water/#comment-973 [...] Singlebarbed posted on snakeheads finding their way into English waters. I wrote this response, twice, yet somehow managed to pull off leaving a blank comment box on his site. Twice. So here’s my comment: [...] [...] Singlebarbed posted on snakeheads finding their way into English waters. I wrote this response, twice, yet somehow managed to pull off leaving a blank comment box on his site. Twice. So here’s my comment: [...]

]]> By: INVASIVE SPECIES: What of the Snakehead? « Fishing Jones http://singlebarbed.com/2008/02/21/just-when-you-thought-it-was-safe-to-stick-your-toe-in-the-water/comment-page-1/#comment-970 INVASIVE SPECIES: What of the Snakehead? « Fishing Jones Fri, 29 Feb 2008 17:00:32 +0000 http://singlebarbed.com/2008/02/21/just-when-you-thought-it-was-safe-to-stick-your-toe-in-the-water/#comment-970 [...] 21, 2008 by Pete McDonald Singlebarbed posted on snakeheads finding their way into English waters. I wrote this response, twice, yet somehow managed to pull off leaving a blank comment box on his [...] [...] 21, 2008 by Pete McDonald Singlebarbed posted on snakeheads finding their way into English waters. I wrote this response, twice, yet somehow managed to pull off leaving a blank comment box on his [...]

]]> By: KBarton10 http://singlebarbed.com/2008/02/21/just-when-you-thought-it-was-safe-to-stick-your-toe-in-the-water/comment-page-1/#comment-924 KBarton10 Fri, 22 Feb 2008 00:25:21 +0000 http://singlebarbed.com/2008/02/21/just-when-you-thought-it-was-safe-to-stick-your-toe-in-the-water/#comment-924 Not sure why Pete's comments are not viewable, they're intact but not displaying. Not sure why Pete’s comments are not viewable, they’re intact but not displaying.

]]> By: Pete http://singlebarbed.com/2008/02/21/just-when-you-thought-it-was-safe-to-stick-your-toe-in-the-water/comment-page-1/#comment-921 Pete Thu, 21 Feb 2008 22:02:30 +0000 http://singlebarbed.com/2008/02/21/just-when-you-thought-it-was-safe-to-stick-your-toe-in-the-water/#comment-921 [Sorry for the repeat, the original seems to have come up empty. delete as needed] "The critics were quite nasty about the newcomers, variously described as scaly, voracious, monstrous and homely. They stole food from natives. They had sharp teeth. They ate their young..." A description of the introduction of brown trout to US waters in 1883. Also, "It has displaced resident trout from the small rivers and lakes of Montana, Colorado, New Mexico and other mountain states. The brook trout's main victim is the cutthroat, so called for the bright slash of crimson under its jaw. Squeezed on one side by invasive brook trout, native cutthroats are also under challenge from rainbow trout..." http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/10025006.html Carp introduced in the US 1877... Striped Bass introduced in Sacramento Delta in 1879... Peacock Bass Introduced in Florida in 1984... Not saying that snakeheads are a good thing, but they're far from the worst invasive species case (see Lake Davis). And they're not as horrific as the sensationalist reporting in the media portends: http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Publications/ZooGoer/2004/2/snakehead.cfm Anecdotally, from first hand experience down in Florida, snakeheads don't seem to be the voracious uber predators they are made out to be. They're actually pretty wary. And in the waters I've fished, the largemouth bass still outnumber them by FAR, despite the snakeheads having a few years to establish a population and supposedly decimate everything. You're still supposed to kill them when you catch them... [Sorry for the repeat, the original seems to have come up empty. delete as needed]

“The critics were quite nasty about the newcomers, variously described as scaly, voracious, monstrous and homely. They stole food from natives. They had sharp teeth. They ate their young…”

A description of the introduction of brown trout to US waters in 1883.

Also, “It has displaced resident trout from the small rivers and lakes of Montana, Colorado, New Mexico and other mountain states. The brook trout’s main victim is the cutthroat, so called for the bright slash of crimson under its jaw. Squeezed on one side by invasive brook trout, native cutthroats are also under challenge from rainbow trout…”

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/10025006.html

Carp introduced in the US 1877…

Striped Bass introduced in Sacramento Delta in 1879…

Peacock Bass Introduced in Florida in 1984…

Not saying that snakeheads are a good thing, but they’re far from the worst invasive species case (see Lake Davis). And they’re not as horrific as the sensationalist reporting in the media portends:

http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Publications/ZooGoer/2004/2/snakehead.cfm

Anecdotally, from first hand experience down in Florida, snakeheads don’t seem to be the voracious uber predators they are made out to be. They’re actually pretty wary. And in the waters I’ve fished, the largemouth bass still outnumber them by FAR, despite the snakeheads having a few years to establish a population and supposedly decimate everything.

You’re still supposed to kill them when you catch them…

]]> By: enemyofcarp http://singlebarbed.com/2008/02/21/just-when-you-thought-it-was-safe-to-stick-your-toe-in-the-water/comment-page-1/#comment-918 enemyofcarp Thu, 21 Feb 2008 20:58:28 +0000 http://singlebarbed.com/2008/02/21/just-when-you-thought-it-was-safe-to-stick-your-toe-in-the-water/#comment-918 I once saw a video of guy catching these things by the bucket loads out of a tributary of the Potomac during a migration. My advice... Punch your favorite exotic fish enthusiast in the face next time you see them. I once saw a video of guy catching these things by the bucket loads out of a tributary of the Potomac during a migration.

My advice… Punch your favorite exotic fish enthusiast in the face next time you see them.

]]> By: Tom Chandler/Trout Underground http://singlebarbed.com/2008/02/21/just-when-you-thought-it-was-safe-to-stick-your-toe-in-the-water/comment-page-1/#comment-917 Tom Chandler/Trout Underground Thu, 21 Feb 2008 17:18:14 +0000 http://singlebarbed.com/2008/02/21/just-when-you-thought-it-was-safe-to-stick-your-toe-in-the-water/#comment-917 Sure, they're ugly and invasive, but we may have found the only fish capable of controlling pike populations... Sure, they’re ugly and invasive, but we may have found the only fish capable of controlling pike populations…

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